Arizona PV system set to expand to 2.4 MW

Expansion plans are in the works to nearly double the capacity of a 1.35 MW ground-mounted PV system owned by Tucson Electric Power Co. (TEP), Arizona's third-largest utility.

© Tucson Electric Power High on PV: The Springerville Generating Station, shown here last fall, will begin to grow in April.

On March 7, TEP announced that it would bring the Springerville Generating Station up to 2.4 MW. Installation is slated for completion by the end of August, says Kelly Hanson, the firm's corporate communications specialist. Although Hanson declined to specify which PV technology would be used for the expansion due to »competitive reasons,« Jay Gonzales, press spokesman at Global Solar, says ASE polycrystalline modules have been chosen and will be installed starting in April. Global Solar, a CIGS thin-film manufacturer and TEP sister company which oversees daily operations at the installation, says CIGS modules could be used in the future. The current site includes BP Solar thin-film modules, First Solar CdTe modules, and ASE modules (see PI 11/2001, p. 14). Despite the Springerville system, TEP is finding it difficult to meet a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) with a solar component that was approved by the state utility commission in Jan. (see PI 4/2002, p. 23).
 

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, April 2002